Before the Pirate King was executed, he dared the many pirates of the world to seek out the fortune that he left behind in one piece.As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming the King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally gained the power to stretch like rubber...at the cost of never being able to swim again! Now Luffy, with the help of a motley collection of nakama, is setting off in search of "One Piece", said to be the greatest treasure in the world.

Note: The best-selling series in manga history.

Was a finalist for the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize from 2000 to 2002. The German translation of Vol 44 won the Sondermann audience award at the Frankfurt Book Fair Comics Centre in 2005.Won the 41st Japan Cartoonists Association Award Grand Prize alongside Neko Darake in 2012.

Well, like everybody else (except for like 4 out of 60 reviewers) I think this is one of the best mangas ever written and probably the best one being serialized at this time. Oda's unique artwork is gorgeous once we get out of the first couple of volumes (because the scans are terrible quality that would make Van Gogh's works look like spilt paint, and if you are reading the Viz version then i have nothing to say to you) and the plot never failes to captivate. There is literally no *rolling eyes* scenes in the world of One Piece. Heck, you might stare at a page for 3 minutes straight in awe.

And to the poor schmuck who said it is just a bunch of fruit freaks duking it out, I find it hard to believe that you have read any more than half a volume of this series and didn't pull the rest of the plot off a "Kid's Review" of the Viz version on Amazon. You are really missing out if you go into this series with a bias towards anything but the norm like he apparently did. It is one of the rare mangas that are truly unique and non-cliche...it will blow you away.

This is either a hit or a miss. If you like the artwork, you'll like the story. If you can't stand the artwork, you can't get in the story. It's a hit for me, and it's my favorite at the moment among manga and anime.